Author & Investigator of Strange Creatures

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A new urban fantasy published in conjunction with Dystel & Goderich Literary Management

God Johnson: The Unforgiven Diary of the Disciple of a Lesser God

By Linda S. Godfrey

Aspiring actress Liberty Abbott agrees to be the sole disciple of a minor deity and Abe Lincoln lookalike oddly named God Johnson, in exchange for a fast track to world-hunger-fighting-super-celebrityhood. As Liberty finds herself giving him her heart – and a certain portion of her aura — she unknowingly breaks his secret Major Rule. God Johnson then must abandon her to the other lesser deities until she pays for her sin or dies. By the time Liberty discovers what the gods really want from her, she knows that what she wants from God Johnson is worlds away from her original plan.

“Looking back, it’s not something I’m proud of. I will admit, however, that I am the sole disciple of a lesser god. As a result, I owed most of what I was and had – red hair a shade between bittersweet and auburn, a powder blue convertible, and an inside track to super-stardom at the tender age of twenty-two — to the grace of a minor deity. He likes to be called God Johnson, although the other gods and I usually drop the “God” part since we all know what he is. And I still prefer to go by Liberty, Liberty Belle Abbott. My close friends call me Lib, but my god is a stickler for formality. I had no idea at the time what the extent of a demi-god’s Wrath might be…”

PHOTOS AND OTHER FUN STUFF; places, people and things from God Johnson

Here are a few pics of UW-Madison’s Rathskeller, where Liberty is initiated into the Whetherworld, the unseen habitat of the lesser gods. Most mortals last no more than a few minutes in the Whetherworld. but Liberty proves unexpectedly tolerant of this weird domain.

This is a genuine Catlinite turtle charm like the one Liberty wears, made by Mato Welch of the Pipestone Indian Shrine Association. I first wrote about it three years ago never having seen one, so I was delighted to find this one on eBay. Still waiting for it to do some of the things Liberty’s turtle charm does. 🙂

Drink Coasters

The gods are not slobs. They’re quite fastidious for the most part, and would not dream of setting a foaming mug of nectar on a bare table. The coaster design features a drawing of one of the chandeliers that hang in the basement Council of the Gods. The chandeliers dim or brighten according to their own interpretation of what is going on in the room at the time. They are not above using this modest ability to subtly manipulate goddish activities.

There is nothing magical about the coasters themselves. The gods have them printed in bulk by a Cincinnati paper goods company called Pulp Faction. The gods really enjoy bad puns.

Bascom Hill

One of the halls on Bascom Hill, perhaps the one that serves as a topside entry for God Johnson’s Whetherworld palace

Orange, frosted scone

Recipe for Orange Scones

1 3/4 sifted all-purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 cup (half a stick) butter

the zest (grated peel) of two oranges

Use a pastry blender or knife to cut through these ingredients until particles are about the size of a pea. Beat two eggs separately and save out about 2 tablespoons of the eggs. Beat 1/3 cup cream into the larger portion of eggs, then pour the mixture into the dry ingredients and stir only until blended. Add a quarter cup of dried cranberries if you like. Spread the dough evenly into an round baking pan or fill separate compartments of a muffin tin about half-full. bake in an oven preheated to 450° for about 15 min. If you use the baking pan, which is how I do it, cut the finished product into eight triangles. Drizzle with glaze if you like.

Glaze

2 to 3 tablespoons of very soft butter

1 cup of powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

small pinch of salt

about a quarter cup of milk more or less

This glaze is my own recipe so it is rather haphazard. Mix first four ingredients. Add milk a little at a time until the mixture is just pourable enough to drizzle over the warm scones. If you would rather spread it on with a knife, be sure to stop adding milk when mixture reaches a paste like consistency.

Delicious!

The Scarab

The Scarab is pretty disgusting so you may not want to look at this illustration while you are eating the scones. He reminds me of old time movie villains; think insectoid Edward G. Robinson.

My astute readers, which would be all of them, will certainly wonder about his relationship to the ancient Egyptian scarab deity. The Egyptians saw the scarab beetle as a representation of their Sun God. I assure you that their religious views have little or nothing to do with my own interpretation. But I’ve always been intrigued by the fact that the scarab beetle is also called the dung beetle because it eats animal doo, which it transports by shaping it into a little ball and rolling it away. This ball reminded ancient Egyptians of the sun and that association led to their worship of the scarab beetle. In God Johnson, that doesn’t turn out so well for the big bug.

This page is a work in progress. Please keep checking back for more pictures and illustrations.

Thanks for stopping by!

A quick summary of God Johnson

When a geeky minor deity named God Johnson takes on the form of Abraham Lincoln in order to help win the trust of the sole disciple he needs, he’s thrilled to win over aspiring young actress Liberty Abbott. She agrees to be his only devotee in exchange for a fast track to world-hunger-fighting-super-celebrityhood. What God Johnson can’t tell her, due to the code of the council of ancient gods he belongs to, is that he has a secret commandment. Liberty, of course, soon breaks it, unknowingly involving her brother, best friend and a handsome young priest, as well.

She’s then subjected to an arena-style battle against a breathtaking array of monsters and magical pitfalls. Liberty must try to save her brother and friends as well as herself from death or eternal slavery in the alternate universe that the huge and crazy pantheon of lesser gods call the Whetherworld. The book is set in the downtown and university areas of Madison, Wisconsin.

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13 Responses

Hello Varga, I’m sorry your article along with quite a lot of other letters seem to have disappeared from the page. I usually do reply to people, I’m not sure what happened. I have never claimed to be the most enlightened person on the planet, far from it. But I do thank you for taking the time to write and that you had intended to be helpful. I wish you the best in all you are doing — Linda

Hi Stephanie,
Thanks so much, the sequel is still being finished and I’m not sure how long it will take. I will announce it here, however, as soon as it happens. I’m so glad you liked the first one! Much appreciation – Linda

Hello. I just finished reading God Johnson and would love to know if the second in the series is out yet or if not when it will be in bookform???
It’s not my usual read, but I enjoyed it and want to continue the series.
Please let me know! Ty!!
Stephanie ChristnerSaphira77sc@gmail.com

Linda, I have not seen a written response from you concerning my article I posted on your website. Did you forget ?? I do not see my article on your website any more, did you delete it by accident ?? Let me tell you something, if you want creditability then you have to bite your lip and accept it. Their are much, much, more enlightened individuals than you, sorry to tell you this. I do not need you, but you need me, Or maybe, I have made a mistake contacting you. I possess data of the ongoing cycles. Do not know if you are ready for such things like this. not a problem, I have managed to bring many natural life forms together to communicate with humans. I see you are not ready for this interaction at this stage in your life. You always ask others for their opinion first.
Thankyou Linda
Varga

Hi Scott, I just recently made the same discovery when I went to make a Facebook page and found out it was already taken :-). In fact, I messaged someone from your band already. I have no idea how I thought of that title and no I wasn’t at the Rathskeller concert although I wish I had been! All I can say is that great minds think alike, and I’m cool with it if you guys are! It would be terrific to have another concert at the Rathskeller. You can e-mail me at lindagodfrey99 (at) gmail.com. Thanks for writing!